Russian officials have launched an investigation into one of Russia’s most important spaceship builders amid a multi-million pound corruption scandal engulfing the country’s troubled space industry.

The arrest of Dmitry Dyakonov, the director of a firm that provides legal services to the company that builds Russia’s famous Proton and Angara space rockets, followed accusations of misappropriation and embezzlement across the industry that could run into billions of pounds.

Mr Dyakonov, the general director of a company called Ekopravo, was placed under house arrest on Monday, a spokesman for Moscow’s Basmanny District court said.